Chapter 28

28

     “Wow,” Stacey stood before the mirror surveying the damage Jordan had inflicted upon it. The girls had talked through every scenario and they both agreed finally that there was no way two could stop the impending doom.

     Stacey had called home asking permission to stay at Jordan’s and her mother had granted it. Now both girls sat on Jordan’s bed wracking their brains as to how to deal with the situation.

     “We need three people to effectively deal with this,” Jordan stated. She wrung her hands in desperation as she paced back in forth in her room.

     “There is a third person who knows and believes…” Stacey hinted, looking at Jordan closely to gauge her reaction.

     “Who-“ here Jordan stopped, the truth seeping in.

     “No!” She exclaimed, “No way! Not her! She threatened me and if we give her another reason to want the mirror- it’s over!”

     “Well, I don’t know what else to suggest,” Stacey said, throwing her hands up in despair and resolution. Downstairs the girls heard the door open and close and the  familiar rattlings of a family returning home. The despair welled up in Jordan’s eyes and she burst out the door.

     “No, Jordan wait-“ Stacey called after her but Jordan was already down the steps. She burst into the kitchen and threw herself into her parents’ arms, weeping and ranting about the mirror and what she’d seen.

     “What is going on?” her mother asked incredulously as she pulled Jordan away from her to hold her at arm’s length. “Are you OK? What happened?”

     At that moment Stacey entered the room, waving hello with her fingertips and both parents turned to her for answers.

     “Uh, the mirror-“ was all Stacey got out before Jordan burst into a new round of sobbing. Jordan’s parents pushed past Stacey and went to Jordan’s room where they surveyed the damage to the mirror.

     “Oh, Jordan, honey, how did this happen?” her mother asked, thinking she understood Jordan’s remorsefulness.

     “It-uh- it was an accident. We were playing around and I accidently hit it with my shoe,” Stacey said, taking the blame for its damage and somewhat grateful that they misunderstood what was really happening here.

     “Well, we can get that repaired honey,” Jordan’s father said, putting his arms around his daughter to comfort her. “It’s not the end of the world you know.” Here Jordan stopped crying and she nodded in simple, acute agreement. What her father didn’t understand was that it was the end of the world – her world and that mirror was the cause! She knew that to stop this she would have to follow Stacey’s advice and get Teresa in on the action. And after that the mirror would be completely destroyed once and for all. There was no more question in Jordan’s mind that she could and would put an end to this curse once and for all. 

OK from here I have no idea HOW Jordan can solve this problem to save both her parents...... Advice?????

Chapter 27

27

     Jordan sat in her room, her back against the mirror. She knew it. She felt it. The mirror had been calling to her all day. She simply refused to rub the runes embedded, burned into the mirror’s arch. She’d had all day to destroy the mirror, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. The how was the question.

     She sat at her computer talking to Stacey online, both discussing ways the mirror could be destroyed.

     Wildie13: You culd burn it

     Shortcake: How? Catch my room on fire? Drag it out back 2 the burn pit? Don’t u think it’d b pretty obvious?

     Wildie13: What if u just shatter the glass? That’d b easy enuf.

     Shortcake: I thought about that, but I think the runes at the top will have to b destroyed somehow 2.

     No reply came to that one. How could they possibly destroy the mirror without also obliterating the runes? It was obvious that the runes had everything to do with the mirror’s magic. It was nearly 8 PM and Jordan was no closer to an answer than she had been when she first conceived the idea. She leaned back in her chair, allowing her head to roll around on her shoulders and her mind connected to the mirror instantaneously.

     Without warning Jordan’s hair whipped around her head and the chorline smell assaulted her nose. She fell backward in her chair, twisting onto her stomach to glare at the mirror.

     “I did not summon you!” She screamed as she rose to her knees. The mirror had activated on its own somehow and Jordan was forced to view its prediction.

     Unlike before, this time it played out like a movie scene- no symbols or pictures- no runes- the screen simply lit up like a TV screen and Jordan watched, terrified, as the scene came to life before her.

     In the midst of a roiling fog within the mirror she watched her mother driving down the road, crossing an intersection and the crushing blow of a truck broad-siding her. Her mother’s head whipped to the side, blood and shattered glass flew everywhere in slow motion so that the expression on her mother’s face revealed the very horror she was enduring and then the eihwaz rune, Death, rose to the surface of the mirror, obliterating the scene she’d watched. 

     Already Jordan’s mind was racing to the time- 9 Am tomorrow and she began calculating a plan, but her thinking broke stride when the mirror again activated and Jordan wailed in agony.

     “What?” She screamed. “What now? Isn’t this enough?”

But the mirror wasn’t through. The same tale-tell signs erupted around her and she watched in horror as this time the mirror revealed a very different scene. This time it was her father and the scene it revealed was horrific. She watched her father’s flight rising from the tarmac, not quite clearing the ground, its wing tip dipping too low and brushing the ground, sending the plane into a cartwheel of fire and explosion.

     Sweating and crying Jordan fell back from the visions she’d seen. What had just happened? How could she possibly stop two events at once? Her mind overloaded and erupted into a massive headache and in agony she grappled her hand across the desk, found and threw her crystal paperweight at the mirror, cracks spiderwebbing from the impact.

     Jordan scrambled to her feet, turning she saw that Stacey had been IM’ing her ending in a series of question marks.

     Jordan hurriedly typed in- call me, Now! And within seconds her cell phone was ringing. She recounted the events, crying over the phone and Stacey promised she’d arrive in no time.

     Jordan paced the kitchen restlessly until she heard the front door open and slam close. She ran down the hall, nearly colliding with Stacey who stood breathless, her face etched with tenseness.

     “What are we gonna do?” Stacey blurted and Jordan took up her pacing again.

     “Somehow we’ve got to stop two events, which wouldn’t be so bad- I mean there’s two of us- but I am uncertain where the event happens with my mom. The mirror wasn’t clear. What if I put you one place and it happens in another? There are two main intersections in town and I’m certain it happens in town- that much I could see, but where, which one?” Her voice broke in another sob and Stacey put her hands on Jordan’s shoulders to calm her.

     “What about your dad?” She asked and Jordan explained again what she’d seen. I have to stop him from getting on that flight. It has to be me, Stacey. He simply won’t listen to anyone else. I have no idea how I’m even going to get past the TSA nerds to get to him! It’s all just so impossible!”

Chapter 26

26

     When Stacey dropped Jordan at home, Jordan was glad to see two cars in the driveway. Stacey, sensing her relief, remarked, “We could tell your parents. They might know what to do,”

     “They would never believe me, Stacey.”

     “But if both of us talked to them, they couldn’t possibly believe we were both crazy!”

     Jordan considered this and imagined the scene. She could picture her parent’s sensible faces changing to looks of disbelief. There was no way they would believe it and if they didn’t believe it, destroying the mirror would really cause an uproar. There would be no talk of accidents, her parents would know she’d done it on purpose.

     “I just don’t think it’s a good idea, Stacey. I think we’re on our own.”

     Jordan hopped from the car and ran inside where both her parents greeted her. “I’m glad you’re home, Jordan, your father and I want us to all go out to dinner since he’s flying out Sunday morning. We figured a little family time was in order.”

     Jordan gladly agreed, happy for a diversion, and she ran to her room to drop her stuff and clean up for their dinner together.

     That evening everything felt so right. Jordan and her parents enjoyed dinner together and ended the evening with a walk along the Serpentine Wall along the Ohio River. The lights gleamed on the river red and blue from the boats moored across the river and the glittering lights of the city and a few other couples walked hand in hand. The gentle slapping of the water and the rush of traffic over the nearby bridge spanning the river reeked of normalcy and Jordan felt she needed to pinch herself given the dream world she’d been living.

     She loved Sawyer Point and the Serpentine Wall had always seemed magical. A great place for families, the “wall” was really a long cement strand along the river’s edge. Rounded mounds of cement steps, like stages, with a walkway before them that was lined by the river provided a place for festivals and family strolls. Further up were several fountains that she had often splashed in as a kid. Giant metal pigs with wings, their arms outstretched to touch the sky stood on tall metal columns in the public landing of Sawyer Point and step by step you descended to where they stood now.

Her father nearby, stooped to pick something from the paved walkway and he approached Jordan, now standing on the river’s edge, gazing out across the blackened water.

     “A penny for your thoughts,” he said, handing Jordan a penny he’d lifted from the ground.

     “Do you believe in being able to tell the future dad?” Jordan whispered.

     “You mean like fortune tellers and psychics?” her father chuckled. “I suppose there are things out there that we aren’t meant to understand, Jordan. But truly I’m not sure I believe all that. I believe in what I can see and touch, not always what I feel.” 

     Jordan sighed wistfully, fully expecting that answer and she turned her thoughts to what she could do about the mirror when her own parents hadn’t the imagination to grasp it. She was careful to avoid the topic of the mirror with her parents, so that when the time came to destroy it, it would not seem so obvious.

     Later that night, Jordan lay in her bed, thoughts of the day battling with thoughts of the mirror and its reality. She didn’t know what Teresa could possibly do to get a hold of the mirror, but she knew that if she didn’t act, Teresa could make her life a living hell- one rescue mission after another. Eventually it would wear her down. Heck she was already wore out, what would a lifetime of this feel like? Weary from her ponderings, Jordan drifted off to sleep, aware in the back of her mind that the mirror called to her.

     The next morning, Jordan awoke with a start, an unsettling feeling surrounded her. Leaping from bed she raced from her room and downstairs to see her parents readying themselves to leave.

     “What’s up?” Jordan quizzed.

     “Well, since your father is heading out tomorrow morning we thought we’d spend the day together. The car’s in the drive in case of an emergency- call me if you have to take it out- otherwise we’ll be home around 9 or 10 tonight.” Her mother had a flush to her face and Jordan could tell that she was excited about their outing.

     “OK, well, have fun then,” Jordan smiled and she went about her day, carefully avoiding her room and the growing sense of unrest that she simply could not push away.

Chapter 25

25

     Jordan sat at the end of the day looking at the two quizzes she been handed back, both with big fat “Fs” on them boldly stroked in red ink. Why did teachers use red ink anyway? Hadn’t she read somewhere that it was psychologically disturbing to students? The fact was that she had been psychologically disturbed for the last few weeks due to the mirror and it was showing in her grades.

     “What’s up?” Stacey asked as she plopped down on the bench beside Jordan. It was starting to get cool out and the back area by the ball field, its sturdy wooden picnic tables, was all but deserted already. Most kids took flight at the mere intonation of the end of day bell, and Jordan met Stacey here each day for her ride home.

     Without a word Jordan handed the two graded quizzes to her friend, followed by a low whistle and a nervous stare from Stacey.

     “Are they going to let you retake them?” Stacey asked.

     “That’s why I’m still sitting here; I decided it best to go ask before they leave for the weekend. My parents are going to kill me!”

     “I can wait for you if you want,” Stacey offered and Jordan offered her a weak smile of thanks.

     It didn’t take long to visit both the math and English teachers to beg her case and she walked out into the hall with a grim smile of determination. At least they had both agreed to allow her to retake them. She made up a lot of her excuse, but it boiled down to stress and they bought it. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to repeat her story and she really hoped the two teachers didn’t trade stories at some point. She wasn’t exactly sure if her stories had been the same.

     Lost in thought she stopped at her locker to grab the two books she’d need to study, closed the locker door and jumped a mile. Teresa stood there, a grin on her face, her arms crossed; her very posture said it all.

     “What do you want?” Jordan huffed, she knew she sounded rude, but she’d had all of Teresa she could take.

     “I guess you know I came to your house,” Teresa stated matter-of-factly.

     “yeah, that was a stupid move. What did you want?” Jordan tried to keep her voice even so as not to reveal her deep nervousness. She wasn’t much into confrontation and she wished Stacey were by her side.

     “You know what I want. I want in on the mirror.” 

     “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jordan replied turning to leave. But Teresa wouldn’t have it. She grabbed Jordan’s shoulder and spun her back around.

     “You know exactly what I’m talking about. The mirror- it tells the future. Do you realize what you could do with that? What we could do with that power?”

     Angry now, Jordan took a step toward Teresa, glancing around nervously to be sure they were alone, “You stole my notebook! You invaded my privacy! How dare you!”

     Nonplussed, Teresa just smiled. “I can make your life a living hell. I bet people would want to know what you’re hiding and I could plan a lot of action to keep you busy for a lifetime. You’ll be so stressed trying to figure it all out, you will beg me to take that mirror before it’s all over!” At that Teresa pushed past Jordan and left the building. Jordan just stood there, clenching and unclenching her fists, trying to slow her breathing before she too went out to the parking lot to meet Stacey.

     “She what?” Stacey exclaimed when Jordan recounted the encounter in the hallway. “That bitch! What are we going to do?”

     “I don’t know, Stace.” And Jordan didn’t know. She was relatively certain that revealing the secret to the public was a stupid idea. I mean who in the world would believe a story like that? However, she didn’t doubt that Teresa could keep her busy and if it involved people Jordan knew and loved, she would be forced to act- a puppet on a string. Jordan had no doubt that Teresa had already put that theory to the test- her suspicions growing concerning the fire at Stacey’s.

     “Basically, it means that the mirror’s got to be destroyed. That’s all there is to it. If we destroy it, then it’s over.”

     But it wasn’t that simple and later the next day, Jordan would be exceedingly glad that she hadn’t acted rashly when it came to immediate destruction of the mirror.